Rick Rubin Breaks Down What He Cut From 'Yeezus'

In interviews, Kanye made Yeezus out to be his embrace of minimalism. After years of learning how to do the most with more, he tried to do the most with as little as possible. And then he brought him rap minimalist godfather Rick Rubin to finish the job. In an exclusive interview, Rick Rubin walked us through everything he redacted from every track on Yeezus.

TRACK: On Sight
REMOVED: a bass drum, Mortal Kombat samples, the sound of Justice crying softly

TRACK: Black Skinhead
REMOVED: an extra six rounds of tape saturation, ambient noise from a minor league baseball game

TRACK: I Am A God
REMOVED: the invocation of Yahweh’s full name, launch codes, an atonal piano line played by Trent Reznor

TRACK: New Slaves
REMOVED: a Beatles sample, drums

TRACK: Hold My Liquor
REMOVED: additional vocals from Juice, Capital D and the dude from Iron and Wine

TRACK: I’m In It
REMOVED: ragtime piano, the “Think” break, swag

TRACK: Blood On The Leaves
REMOVED: Trapaholics drops

TRACK: Guilt Trip
REMOVED: bass solo by Victor Wooten, the sound of burning sage leaves, theramin

TRACK: Send It Up
REMOVED: percussion by Einstürzende Neubauten, clocks, wind

TRACK: Bound 2
REMOVED: nothing, although they opted not to use the take where Charlie Wilson’s soul briefly left this dimension

Skinny Friedman loves the rap music and cats. He's on Twitter — @skinny412